This Month

When the Music Stopped
It is not just musicians who are idled by the Coronavirus. A whole industry of people who support the live music scene are put on the sidelines too, says industry veteran Joelle May.

Our Best of 2019 coverage Starts Here

Mingwa - The Strange One
...a great album that really stretches what world music can be, and seamlessly blends many styles of music.

The Shangs - Golden Hits of the Shangs
...the band had another side gig going on all the while. Starting in 1990, The Shangs were a psychedelic pop off-shoot that sound very little like the main project Simply Saucer.

Alex Cuba Sublime
...a great album that will fit fine into Canadian summers lounging around on the beach.

RSS

Turbonegro
()

If you believe everything you read (I had the benefit of a bio from the label, but any sycophantic rock journalistÃ‚â€™s ramblings will do), Turbonegro are now, as they have been for the last ten years, the great, underrated, overlooked rock band in the world. And now theyÃ‚â€™re back, with their best record ever that is a revelation to fans and the uninitiated alike about the power and glory of rock nÃ‚â€™ roll. That is, if you believe everything you read.
I heard the hype and because of it took this album on for review. With eager anticipation I placed the disk carefully into my CD player. This is the most polite way I can think of to say what I think of Scandinavian Leather: donÃ‚â€™t believe the hype. What is contained on TurbonegroÃ‚â€™s Ã‚â€œlatest, greatestÃ‚â€� release is nothing more than earnest posturing coupled with a poorly executed, supposedly ironic commentary on the nature of both punk rock and metal.
The fact that the band boasts unimpeachable authenticity (again, from their bio) has to be a joke. From start to finish, Scandinavian Leather produces slab after metallic slab of meticulously image-manipulated punk rock that has all the authenticity of Twisted Sister in their heyday but with none of the integrity (yes, really). The guitars grind and wail in true hair metal fashion while the rhythm section (Chris Summers on drums and Happy Tom on bass) alternately pound and dance around singer Hank von HelveteÃ‚â€™s uniformly dumb and uninteresting lyrics (sample Ã‚â€œcoast to coast, nationwide/DNA on naugahydeÃ‚â€� from Ã‚â€œTrain Of FleshÃ‚â€�)
TurbonegroÃ‚â€™s music would be fine if it was played straight faced, but you can almost hear the band members laughing all the way to the bank beneath the lukewarm assault. Instead of presenting themselves as having a semblance of sardonic wit or as being an elaborately conceived construct, Turbonegro choose instead to act like a parody; they are a caricature and as a result are neither funny nor believable as a creative force. The songs are presented in such a way that they arenÃ‚â€™t funny because the band seems to be laughing at how clever they are for getting away with putting out this tripe. Songs like Ã‚â€œWipe It Till It BleedsÃ‚â€� and the self-advertising Ã‚â€œTurbonegro Must Be DestroyedÃ‚â€� should be proof enough of both the plasticity of the bandÃ‚â€™s approach and their blatant exploitation of a fan base that cares more about image than output.
Therein lies TurbonegroÃ‚â€™s strength: they are masters of image manipulation. By shamelessly exploiting hipsters and tastemakers into thinking that they were cool, Turbonegro in the process convinced the rest of the world by careful calculation. What becomes abundantly apparent after listening objectively to Scandinavian Leather is that only those who think that PoisonÃ‚â€™s catalogue is essential listening will find any value in it.

Our Best of 2019 coverage Starts Here

Mingwa - The Strange One
...a great album that really stretches what world music can be, and seamlessly blends many styles of music.

The Shangs - Golden Hits of the Shangs
...the band had another side gig going on all the while. Starting in 1990, The Shangs were a psychedelic pop off-shoot that sound very little like the main project Simply Saucer.

Alex Cuba Sublime
...a great album that will fit fine into Canadian summers lounging around on the beach.

Features: March 2020

Our Best of 2019 coverage Starts Here

Mingwa - The Strange One
...a great album that really stretches what world music can be, and seamlessly blends many styles of music.

The Shangs - Golden Hits of the Shangs
...the band had another side gig going on all the while. Starting in 1990, The Shangs were a psychedelic pop off-shoot that sound very little like the main project Simply Saucer.

Alex Cuba Sublime
...a great album that will fit fine into Canadian summers lounging around on the beach.

Features: February 2020

Our Best of 2019 coverage Starts Here

Mingwa - The Strange One
...a great album that really stretches what world music can be, and seamlessly blends many styles of music.

The Shangs - Golden Hits of the Shangs
...the band had another side gig going on all the while. Starting in 1990, The Shangs were a psychedelic pop off-shoot that sound very little like the main project Simply Saucer.

Alex Cuba Sublime
...a great album that will fit fine into Canadian summers lounging around on the beach.

Features: January 2020

Our Best of 2019 coverage Starts Here

Mingwa - The Strange One
...a great album that really stretches what world music can be, and seamlessly blends many styles of music.

The Shangs - Golden Hits of the Shangs
...the band had another side gig going on all the while. Starting in 1990, The Shangs were a psychedelic pop off-shoot that sound very little like the main project Simply Saucer.

Alex Cuba Sublime
...a great album that will fit fine into Canadian summers lounging around on the beach.